FRENCH PROVINCIAL

摘要

Marching orders came via cyberspace a year ago. "The Crusade 2003 embarks June 15 from Carcassonne" read the e-mail from the man who called himself The King. "The Roi Soleil is being outfitted with the appropriate munitions, libations and sustenance for a successful campaign....I suggest naming the expedition CAILIF-Crusade Against Infidels Living in France." Who were we to object? The Roi Soleil, our attack vessel, is easily the most luxurious craft on the Canal du Midi, the 17th-century waterway that stretches from Toulouse down to the city of Sete in the Mediterranean.Guillaume de Perthuis,the boat's captain and owner, took infinite pains with the camouflage. In 1997 he had a 1927 Dutch canal barge cut down from 120 feet to its original length of 98 in order to fit Qust barely) the canal's locks. By 1999, he had gutted it from the rivets up and had it lavishly outfitted with a Jacuzzi, teak decks, wine cellar, professional kitchen, mahogany paneling, a dining saloon where J. Paul Getty would feel at home and three plush en suite bedrooms below decks.